Morton Tenderquick

I ordered 1 bag of TQ from pendery's

http://www.penderys.com

I'm attempting my first batch of Jerky - Kevi's recipe is marinating in the fridge right now.

TenderQuick is a cure. Not a meat tenderizer. You definately can not substitute a meat tenderizer when you need cure your meat like when making jerky, bacon, ham, and summer sausage.

OK GeiyserQ, if you are a Buck's fan you live in my neck of the woods. Where do you get Tenderquick?

You can order it right from mortons web sight.

Check Wallyworld and also any Ace Hardware stores that sell a lot of canning supplies.

For what application?

If it's a brine, we've talked about the fact it's not "required" except for food safety.

Let me know.

Smokin'

Sorry Art,

You missunderstand me. I say Go Bucks as in The Ohio State Buckeyes. Not the Tampa Bay Bucs.

I buy mine from a local indepenent grocer.

SmokinOkie, OK if Tenderquick is just a brine why can't we use plain good old salt. I want to do some jerky and all the receipts call for Mortons Tenderquick. If fact, your brine for turkey calls for it if desired, and by the way it is GREAT! (but without the tenderquick). I am impressed that you took the time to answer my question. Love you guys, and that's NOT a joke.
Love my little Smokette II and try to keep up with you BIG GUYS. PS went to the other OSU in OK.

Impressed by me answering???

Hey, I hang out here all the time, just happy to answer. I'm just happy that people listen (although why I don't know).

TQ is a cure, so straight salt isn't a substitute and TQ isn't salt. It's more for food preservation and food safety. That's why, if you keep the brine cold, you don't need it.

Little Art,

Smokin may be outta touch, not sure. Tender Quick is not a brine, it is a cure (i.e. a preservative). Smokin's question to you above was to understand what you were trying to do. If you simply wanted to brine something, such as a turkey, you would not use Tender Quick.

On the other hand, if you are intending to cold smoke, such as smoke cured sausage, or maybe jerky, then you would use Tender Quick in order to retard bacterial growth due to the low smoking temperatures.

Hope that helps.

All you guy's are great! I thank "you all" for taking your time to answer my question. I am going to bite the bullet and order the tenderquick from Morton. If somewone needs some give me a call, Ill have 6 pounds.

quote:

Originally posted by Little Art:
PS went to the other OSU in OK.

There's another??? OSU? I thought Aggie Tech was the only one

Hey Art, you never told us, is the TQ for a brine or for something else?

SmokinOkie:

What I wanted to do was make some jerky, using the receipt that I found on "Kevie's Jerky Page". I also noted that I found the use of tenderquick on several other receipts, including yours. Thanks again.

Okay, just wanted to make sure it wasn't for brining, which we've said you don't need.

One package goes a LONG way, so just store it airtight to keep out moisture and it'll be fine.

Thanks